


Doing It Wrong

by bell (bellaboo), bellaboo, usomitai (bellaboo)



Category: House M.D.
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-15
Updated: 2008-04-15
Packaged: 2017-10-02 02:45:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellaboo/pseuds/bell, https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellaboo/pseuds/bellaboo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellaboo/pseuds/usomitai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seeing House and Wilson together gets the gears turning in Kutner’s head.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doing It Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [](http:)Get House Laid challenge. Much appreciation and thanks to [Joke Pike Junior](joe_pike_junior.livejournal.com), [Jougetsu](jougetsu.livejournal.com), and [Daisy Lily](daisylily.livejournal.com) for their help in editing.

“I got the blood work and oh shit--“

Wilson was leaning against the desk, ass parked on the surface and hands gripping the edge, and that was okay, a little weird but still okay, but his shirt was buttoned open and Kutner could see chest hair and navel and pale skin. And that would be okay too. A little odd, yes but everyone had the right to get comfortable in their office. Kutner planned to walk around shoeless and tie-less in his, if he ever got one.

No, Kutner shielded his eyes with the blood work papers because Wilson’s pants and _boxers_ were pooled on the floor and his dick was in House’s (his _boss’_) hands.

Kutner tried to avert his gaze in time, but he’d seen it all, Wilson’s hard, purple-reddish dick (circumcised, he couldn’t help but notice) and how House gripped its base, firm and bordering on possessive, with one hand, and pumped it with the other.

“Oh, shit?” Wilson echoed. His voice was strained, probably due to the hand-job, but he still made the swear word sound _polite_, like a remark on the weather.

“I’ll, I’ll go,” Kutner said, slipping back into the hallway.

“Don’t bother,” House said without a single trace of embarrassment. “I’m almost done--“ Wilson made a strangled sound. “There we go. Where’s the blood work?”

Kutner handed the files to him and focused his gaze on House, waiting to answer whatever questions he had, as Wilson cleaned himself up and dressed himself.

***

“They’re doing it,” Kutner said earnestly, speaking in tones suggesting a conspiracy.

Foreman didn’t look up from his reading, Hadley rolled her eyes, and Taub asked, “So?”

“They’re _doing_ it,” Kutner said, emphasizing what he’d already emphasized. “C’mon, guys, what’s wrong with you? You can’t get gossip hotter than this!”

“I’ve known them for over three years,” Foreman said. “They’re not doing ‘it.’”

“But I saw them!”

Foreman shrugged. “And even if they are, who cares?”

“What he said,” Hadley said.

“But think about it!” Kutner insisted. “I mean, _why_? It’s strange enough that Wilson is House’s friend, he’s not exactly the nicest guy around, but they’re screwing too? Why would Wilson put up with that kind of abuse?”

“Why does anyone put up with abuse from someone they love?” Taub asked.

As a rule, Kutner didn’t believe stupid questions existed, since no matter what you asked, you could still get a cool answer out of it. Even “why is the sky blue?”, which was pretty inane as far as questions went, was okay because the response could be cool, like, "because it was the only crayon God had left in his box." But Taub had asked a real clunker.

Who _did_ put up with abuse from loved ones?

Kutner, for one, didn’t. After Cole tried to get him fired, he’d cut off all contact. And that wasn’t hard to do, since Cole himself hadn’t made any moves to talk to Kutner again. He did wonder why that was and, when he stabbed at possible answers, he came up with things like: Cole's too proud; or, he knows I’d never speak to him again.

That was all true, Kutner knew. But they seemed like only a part of the truth.

Not that it mattered. Whatever Cole’s reasons were, Kutner wouldn’t tolerate back-stabbing jerks like that in his life.

“If your loved ones are abusing you, then you’re doing something wrong,” Kutner told Taub.

***

Having received less than satisfactory answers from his coworkers, Kutner went after another source of knowledge. “Did you know that House and Wilson are doing it?” Kutner asked Chase.

Chase was in the middle of the interminable process of prepping for surgery. “Yeah, so what?”

“I knew it!” Kutner said, and then, “Why doesn’t anyone _care_?”

“It’s very simple,” Chase explained. “With House, the less you care, the less you get hurt.”

“Huh.” It made sense, but there was a problem. “If that’s the case, then why is Wilson sleeping with him?”

“Maybe he likes getting hurt,” Chase shrugged. “I don’t know. Like I said, the less you care, the better.”

***

_No_ one was providing the answers Kutner wanted, so he figured it was time to chat with the horse’s mouth. “Why are you doing House?”

Wilson blinked. “Most people would’ve started with lead-up questions, or started with an entirely different subject.”

“He’s a bit of a pain,” Kutner pointed out. “I don’t mind because all bosses suck in one way or another, and he makes me laugh, at least. But why do _you_ stick around?”

Wilson looked upwards. “Why do any two people ever do it? Love? Lust? Stupidity?”

“Which one is it?”

“Let me put it this way: sometimes, the positives outweigh the negatives. There’s more to House than you know, Kutner. And congratulations, by the way, on getting the job. The hard part starts from here on out.”

“Um, thanks.”

Kutner pondered Wilson’s answer.

***

Kutner knocked on the door he thought he would never face again. A young black boy opened the door and, as soon as he recognized Kutner, pouted. “Where have you been? You said you were going to take me to the zoo!”

Poor Dominic; he got all collateral damage from Cole’s betrayal. But how do you tell a kid that he’d disappeared because his father was a regular Marcus Brutus? “Um, I couldn’t, y’know, because of work.”

“But we’ll go soon?” Dominic asked.

“I’ll, uh, ask your dad what he thinks about that.”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” Kutner said, trying not to wince out of guilt.

“Dominic, who is--“ Cole asked, but stopped mid-phrase when he saw for himself. “Kutner,” he said, placing his hands on his son’s shoulders, as if to protect him. “What are you doing here?”

Kutner himself wished he had someone he could touch right now; he hadn’t realized how hard it would be to see Cole again. A lot of him wanted to turn around and go. But he’d decided to do this, so he stood his ground. “I need to talk to you. Alone.”

“Are you going to talk about doctor things I’m not old enough to hear about?” Dominic asked, glancing back and forth at Kutner and Cole.

“Sort of. Can you give us a moment, Dominic?” Cole asked.

“Okay, but we’re going to the zoo later, right?”

Cole raised an eyebrow at him, clearly questioning where this idea had come from, and Kutner shrugged, implying that it was out of his control. “Sure,” Kutner said.

“I wanna see the lions first!” Dominic exclaimed before going to his bedroom.

Alone, the awkwardness only increased. “We gonna have this talk in the doorway or what?” Kutner asked.

Cole stepped aside, giving him a wide margin to pass through, as if to avoid any physical contact.

It’d been a few weeks since Kutner had been here, but a quick glance over the apartment revealed that not much had changed. It was still spotless, with bookshelves covering the walls, their five year-old computer sitting in one corner, and no TV in sight.

It hurt to see it all again, but at the same time, Kutner was struck by how much he missed being here; how much he’d missed Cole and Dominic. “Why did you do it?”

Cole sighed and shook his head. “I needed the job--“

“No,” Kutner cut him off. “There are better jobs with higher salaries-- I bet you’ve even found one already. And you’re better than that. I _know_ you are. There’s something else.”

“It doesn’t matter. Look, you should go--“

“It _does_ matter,” Kutner pressed, and walked up to Cole, slowly. “And I’m going to find out, even if I had to use Jedi-tricks to read your mind.” He motioned a fake mind-brainwashing, even though he knew that Cole wouldn’t see the humor in it.

“Oh, for crying--“ Cole went towards the window, far from Kutner. “I didn’t want you around anymore.”

It kind of sucked to hear that. It kind of sucked a _lot_. Worse, it didn’t sound like Cole was lying. “If you don’t even like me, then why did you let me babysit Dominic? Why did we hang out--“

“It’s not because I don’t like you,” Cole said, his tone strangely cautious.

“If it’s not because you don’t like me, does that mean you like-- _oh_.” Kutner covered his mouth. “You don’t mean-- you _like_ like me?”

Cole rolled his eyes. “Yes, I like like you.”

Kutner looked at Cole more closely than he had in a long time. Kutner’s type usually ran along the lines of prominent breasts and long legs, and Cole had at least the latter. And there was something about Cole’s serious gaze that excited Kutner; this could work. Yes, it definitely could. “Doesn’t that mean you’d _want_ me around?”

From his expression, Cole seemed to think Kutner couldn’t have been _this_ thick-headed. “You realize that me liking you is bad, right?”

“No,” Kutner said, bewildered. “I like you too. Where’s the bad?”

“We’ve been over my being a Mormon, right?”

“Ohhhh. Is that it? But isn’t-- isn’t, uh, being gay already against your religion?”

“I can’t control my impulses,” Cole said, crossing his arms, “but I can control my actions.”

Kutner let out a whistle. “That sucks.”

“Yeah, it does.”

“But,” Kutner pondered, “it’s kinda flattering, that you liked me so much you didn’t want me near.”

“Glad you could find the bright side. Will you go now?”

“No, wait-- so being gay is out, right? But how gay? What if we didn’t sleep together, y’know, just kissed and stuff?”

“No!” Cole exclaimed, offended.

“Or held hands?”

“You’re not-- see, that’s the problem. We’d start with innocent signs of affection and you’d find ways to weasel into more. First it’d be holding hands and the next thing we know--“

“What now?” Kutner interrupted. He didn’t want Cole to think along those lines anymore.

“What do you mean, what now? You leave and we forget about each other.”

“What-- we can’t even hang out? Without touching each other?” Kutner held his hands up, demonstrating just how little contact there would be.

Cole looked dubious. “You’d be okay with that?”

“Sure, why not?” Kutner grinned. “I’ve never had an asexual relationship before. Might be fun to try out.”

“You’re _not_ going to break me down into sleeping with you.”

“I get that!” Kutner promised. “I won’t weasel my way into anything. We’ll be together, but not.”

“I think you’re missing the point of my beliefs.”

“Okay, fine, we’ll be friends. If we can’t handle it, we’ll break it off. Okay?”

Cole bit his lips, and then, “Fine. But at the _first_ sign this is getting out of hand, it’s over. Got it?”

“Got it. So, wanna hang out?"


End file.
